WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan's message on World AIDS Day

1988, WHO hosted the first World AIDS DayAt that time, the world was on alert to AIDS and its multiple catastrophic effectsSince then, the epidemic situation ofdiseasehas changed greatly, and our understanding of the disease has become more and more in-depthSome trends are positiveLeaders in most countries are fully aware of the threat posed bydisease, translated into commitments and resources are increasing, including the resources needed to develop new instrumentsThis year, UNAIDS and WHO jointly drafted the outbreak reportThe report shows that the incidence of AIDS peaked in the late 1990s, while the prevalence rate of the population has remained stable since2
001The data presented in the report are further a reminder that the work done in prevention is leading to a decline in newly acquired infections, particularly among young people, and that improved access to treatment has led to a reduction in HIV-related deathsThese positive trends mask some of the alarming changes in the epidemicToday, my main message is directly: Don't forget Africa, don't forget womenToday, the hiv
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AIDS problem is mostly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is rampant and people are falling into poverty as a result The region accounts for more than two thirds of the world's HIV-infected people and more than three quarters of the world's HIV-related deaths For all regions, the proportion of women living with HIV is increasing In sub-Saharan Africa, the figure is now close to 61%, the highest in the world Women's infections exacerbate the severity of the disaster, and they are wives, mothers
, caregivers and are often the basis for family and community cohesion The accessibility of treatment is improving, but it is still far from the of integrated prevention planning, treatment , care and support 2007, an estimated 1.7 million new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa The death toll is estimated at 1.6 million This has been a personal and family disaster for 1.6 million people As we consider Africa
need to think of the remarkable progress made by an increasing number of countries This gives us of hope, and shows us a model of success Infection rates in countries such as C?te d'Ivoire and Kenya have peaked
and are now falling year by year Leadership can turn things around This can be the leadership at the highest levels of government, or public figures who should take the lead and talk frankly about AIDS and demonstrate the need to combat discrimination Leadership can also take many other faces and forms, from foreign policy to corporate social responsibility, as well as support from religious leaders and civil society There are a few things we need to do 2
007 outbreak reports have adopted a more sophisticated approach, which allows us to better assess the dynamics of the epidemic Estimates are more accurate today, but we still need better data How did the good trend come about? Which particular intervention works best in a particular situation? Where do we focus on our work? We need to strengthen our service delivery systems Weak health systems limit the availability of sustainable prevention and treatment services to those who need it most Inadequate funding provides for effective prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, thus allowing
the long-term continuation of the of the medium-to-the-
disease epidemic We need to support women more It will take time to improve women's social status, strengthen women's control over family income and increase their educational attainment, including for girls However, improving the accessibility of sexual and reproductive health services is now achievable Weak systems may also prevent us from effectively serving people at high risk of infection These include those in conflict and crisis situations, gay men, injecting drug users, sex workers and prisoners We need to advance care and antiretroviral therapy programmes to ensure that the significant achievements that have been made are sustained and expanded, and that thousands of people are able to restore health
and productivity We need to understand how to maximize the impact of treatment on HIV prevention by starting with pregnant women and uninfected partners The mother infected the child, which brought unspeakable grief Inadequate funding provides for effective prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, thus allowing
the long-term continuation of the of the medium-to-the-
disease epidemic We must seize every opportunity to let women know about their infection Finally, the other thing we can do now is to address the merger with TB epidemic Without access to antiretroviral therapy and appropriate tb treatment, the majority of people living with HIV living with TB will die quickly, some within weeks Effective joint interventions against TB and AIDS are now in place, and there is a need to scale up interventions in an integrated manner to prevent unnecessary deaths Since 1988, we have made extraordinary progress, but the road ahead is still long, especially for women, especially in Africa